The Gun Counter

Steamforger wrote:Ever see one of these hit a 1200 pair phone line? Big, brightly colored "bird's nests" just come shooting up out of the ground. Between telcomm and oak tree roots, I've known a couple of guys who would have been far better off financially just setting the trencher on fire and walking away.

Been there, done that, except it was an 800 pain cable. Luckily, the gun running the trencher for me 1) was a telephone man (he ran the underground splcing crew), and 2) we had the foresight to call the company ahead of time and have the cable located, and 3) they told us that the cable was 4' from where we were digging the trench.

It is pretty, in a macabre sort of way, when all that pretty cable comes up out of the ground in a huge birdsnest. Also disconcerting when you realize that you can't call the phone company because that cable feeds your house with service.

You nailed it. "CALL BEFORE YOU DIG" helps avoid wires, gas lines, bankruptcy, death, and other minor annoyances. No guarantees on any of that but much better than "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!"